Some sports or activities require a person to repetitively reach forward with the person's arms and/or to reach forward and down in an attempt to pick up or touch something at or near the ground. Exemplary sports that have this type of movement include, for example, road biking, mountain biking, climbing, kayaking, skateboarding, and the like. Using skateboarding as an example, skateboarders are constantly reaching down to touch or pick up their skateboards. Typical tops or sweatshirts worn by these athletes are not designed for this type of constant repetitive motion. For example, a typical top has a back panel that is comprised generally of a single type of material that has a uniform degree of stretch. The action created by reaching forward and/or reaching down generally results in a large amount of lateral stretch force being applied to the upper back area of the top. By contrast, this type of movement generally does not produce significant amounts of lateral stretch force at the lower part of the top. Because the lateral stretch force is being unevenly applied to the back panel, the result is that the upper back area of the top gradually deforms or gets “pulled out of shape” while the lower part of the top retains its general shape. This not only distorts the appearance of the top but shortens its useful life.
Again using skateboarding as an example, participants of this sport generally experience a large number of falls with the skateboarders landing on their bottom or lower back and often striking or scraping their elbow or forearm area on a hard surface such as concrete or asphalt. Typical tops worn by skateboarders often rip, tear, or wear out in these areas again shortening the life of this apparel item.